This invention relates to improvements in toaster ovens, and in particular to a modular storage compartment for attachment to a toaster oven.
Toaster ovens are popular small kitchen appliances. A toaster oven may be mounted beneath a kitchen cabinet, or alternatively, a toaster oven may be supported on top of a kitchen""s countertop. A toaster oven usually has many accessories such as a broil rack, pizza crisper, baking pan, and the like. The accessories are usually stored in the oven""s cavity or in a kitchen drawer. Storing the accessories in the oven""s cavity requires the user to remove the accessories prior to the oven""s use. Once the accessories are removed and the toaster oven placed in use, the accessories must remain on the countertop, causing clutter and preventing substantive use of the countertop. Although it is more desirable to store the accessories in a drawer, these accessories are rather large, and it is most unusual for the accessories to be stored in a drawer where space is usually at a premium.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to enable a user of a toaster oven to store toaster oven accessories without inconvenience. It is a further object of the invention to include a storage compartment on a toaster oven, which is primarily dedicated to storing toaster oven accessories.
The foregoing objects and other objects of the invention are attained in a modular storage compartment for selective attachment to a toaster oven including a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls. The storage compartment includes a bottom wall, a top wall, a rear wall, and a pair of spaced opposed sidewalls and a front wall forming therebetween the storage compartment. The pair of spaced opposed sidewalls of the storage compartment are vertically alignable with the spaced opposed sidewalls of the toaster oven. The sidewalls of the storage compartment are joined to the sidewalls of the toaster oven via connectors. The front wall of the storage compartment is movable relative to the side, back, top and bottom walls to provide access to the interior of the compartment.
The objects of the invention are further attained in a combined toaster oven and modular storage compartment wherein the toaster oven includes a front wall, a back wall, opposed spaced side walls, a top wall and a bottom wall forming an enclosed cooking cavity. A modular storage compartment includes a top wall, a bottom wall, a pair of horizontally spaced sidewalls and a rear wall forming the storage compartment. The top wall of the storage compartment is spaced vertically below the bottom wall of the toaster oven. The sidewalls of the storage compartment are vertically aligned with the sidewalls of the toaster oven and the respective vertically aligned side walls are connected to mount the storage compartment to the toaster oven.